Governments of the world: a global guide guide to citizen's rights and responsibilities

Volume 4
Popular sovereignty to Zimbabwe

Governments of the World: A Global Guide to Citizens' Rights and Responsibilities is an illustrated encyclopedia designed to provide accessible, authoritative, and up-to-date information about governmental institutions, historical figures, and political systems. Wide-ranging and multidisciplinary in scope, the set analyzes the impact these institutions have on citizen participation, societal change.and cultural development around the world. With topics ranging from elections and suffrage to statelessness and political corruption, Governments of the World examines the rules of participation in a world where an ever-growing number of global institutions -in both the political and the economic spheres - appear to create greater distance between government and citizens.In addition to exploring the structure and organization of more than 200 national political bodies and supranational entitiessuch as the European Union, Governments of the World introduces readers to concepts critical to understanding the justifications for and operations of these institutions, including due process of law; judicial selection; children's rights; Islamic law; and citizenship. Historical surveys examine different types of governments and political institutions, from constitutional monarchies to dictatorships. Biographies of key figures, such as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, provide information on the people whose lives influenced the evolution of government systems around the world.Written by political scientists, law professors, and historians with the non-specialist in mind, the 310 alphabetically-arranged articles of Governments of the World support research by students, specialists, and laypersons in a wide variety of subject areas.
Nearly 400 black and white maps, photographs, and illustrations augment the text. Entries are further made accessible to readersthrough sidebars that delve more deeply into key people, themes, and events, glossary definitions; cross-references, and a cumulative index. Volume-specific primary source legal documents of national and international importance, further reading citations, and a topical filmography provide additional research tools for understanding the concepts presented in the set.